TERI council to meet today to decide Pachauri's role

Faced with growing resistance to the appointment of sexual harassment-tainted RK
Pachauri as executive vice president of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI),
the governing council will meet today to decide his role in the institute,
reports the Hindustan Times.

Pachauri is facing two cases of sexual harassment in the
Delhi High Court. Though he was removed from his position of TERI's director
general, he was recently appointed to the specially-created post of executive
vice chairman with wide-ranging authority. This fresh appointment caused much
outrage among the public as well as the alumni and students of TERI University,
who refuse to accept their degrees at his hands.

After a letter from the alumni to the university's acting
vice chancellor, Pachauri went on leave, meaning that he will not attend the
university's convocation ceremony on 7 March. But this has not satisfied the
students, who call this move "diversionary tactics".

"Once things calm down he will be back. We don't want someone
who committed a crime, has hurt another person to be at the helm of our
institute," a 2015-batch student said.

On Thursday evening, TERI's governing council said it would issue
a detailed statement outlining leadership roles in the institute.